Glossary: complete guide
Plain definitions of BaZi and I Ching terms, from Day Master and hidden stems to Na Jia and the nine palaces. Each entry explains where the term appears in a chart and links to related terms.
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- 四Four Pillars — 四柱 sì zhùThe Four Pillars are the year, month, day and hour of birth, each written as a heavenly stem over an earthly branch.
- 年Year Pillar — 年柱 nián zhùThe year pillar is the stem-branch pair of the solar year of birth.
- 月Month Pillar — 月柱 yuè zhùThe month pillar follows the twelve 节 (jie) solar terms: the 寅 month begins at 立春, 卯 at 惊蛰 and so on.
- 日Day Pillar — 日柱 rì zhùThe day pillar is the stem-branch of the birth day in the continuous sixty-day cycle, which has run unbroken for well over two thousand years.
- 时Hour Pillar — 时柱 shí zhùThe hour pillar covers one of twelve two-hour periods (时辰), starting with 子 at 23:00–01:00.
- 日Day Master — 日主 rì zhǔThe Day Master (日主 or 日元) is the heavenly stem of the day pillar.
- 天Heavenly Stems — 天干 tiān gānThe ten heavenly stems — 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸 — are the yang and yin forms of the five elements: 甲乙 wood, 丙丁 fire, 戊己 earth, 庚辛 metal, 壬癸 water.
- 地Earthly Branches — 地支 dì zhīThe twelve earthly branches — 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥 — mark months, hours and directions.
- 藏Hidden Stems — 藏干 cáng gānHidden stems (藏干 or 人元) are the stems stored inside each earthly branch: a main qi and up to two residual qi.
- 六Sexagenary Cycle — 六十甲子 liù shí jiǎ zǐPairing the ten stems with the twelve branches in order (yang with yang, yin with yin) gives sixty combinations, from 甲子 to 癸亥.
- 纳Na Yin — 纳音 nà yīnNa Yin assigns one of thirty poetic element names to each pair of the sixty-pillar cycle, such as 海中金 "gold in the sea" for 甲子 and 乙丑.
- 五Five Elements — 五行 wǔ xíngThe five elements (五行, wu xing — better translated "five phases") are wood, fire, earth, metal and water.
- 五Generating Cycle — 五行相生 xiāng shēngIn the generating (sheng) cycle wood feeds fire, fire makes earth, earth bears metal, metal carries water and water nourishes wood.
- 五Controlling Cycle — 五行相克 xiāng kèIn the controlling (ke) cycle wood parts earth, earth dams water, water quenches fire, fire melts metal and metal cuts wood.
- 阴Yin and Yang — 阴阳 yīn yángEach element has a yang and a yin form.
- 旺Seasonal Strength — 旺相休囚死 wàng xiàng xiū qiú sǐSeasonal strength rates each element by the month: the element of the season is prosperous (旺), the one it generates is strengthening (相), the one that gen
- 十Twelve Growth Stages — 十二长生 shí èr cháng shēngThe twelve growth stages describe a stem's life cycle through the twelve branches: birth, bath, crowning, coming of age, prosperity, decline, sickness, dea
- 通Root — 通根 tōng gēnA stem is rooted when a branch in the chart contains the same element among its hidden stems.
- 身Strong Day Master — 身强 shēn qiángA strong Day Master is supported by the season, has roots and is backed by companion or resource stems.
- 身Weak Day Master — 身弱 shēn ruòA weak Day Master is out of season, has few roots and is surrounded by elements that drain or control it.
- 用Useful Element — 用神 yòng shénThe useful element (用神) is the element that best brings the chart toward balance or serves its structure.
- 喜Favourable Element — 喜神 xǐ shénThe favourable element (喜神) supports the useful element — usually the element that generates it or protects it.
- 忌Unfavourable Element — 忌神 jì shénThe unfavourable element (忌神) damages the useful element or worsens the imbalance.
- 从Follower Chart — 从格 cóng géA follower chart is a special structure in which the Day Master is so weak and rootless that it "follows" the dominant element instead of resisting it.
- 格Chart Structure — 格局 gé júChart structure (格局) classifies a chart mainly by the Ten God of the month branch's main qi, e.
- 十Ten Gods — 十神 shí shénThe Ten Gods name each stem by its element relation and polarity relative to the Day Master: Friend and Rob Wealth (same element), Eating God and Hurting O
- 天Nobleman Star — 天乙贵人 tiān yǐ guì rénThe Heavenly Nobleman (天乙贵人) is a symbolic star: for each day stem certain branches are designated as "helpful people".
- 桃Peach Blossom — 桃花 táo huāPeach Blossom (桃花, 咸池) is a symbolic star taken from the year or day branch: 子, 午, 卯 or 酉 depending on the three-harmony group.
- 驿Travelling Horse — 驿马 yì mǎThe Travelling Horse (驿马) is a symbolic star found from the three-harmony group of the year or day branch: 寅, 申, 巳 or 亥.
- 天Stem Combination — 天干五合 tiān gān wǔ héFive pairs of stems combine: 甲己 (earth), 乙庚 (metal), 丙辛 (water), 丁壬 (wood), 戊癸 (fire).
- 天Stem Clash — 天干相冲 tiān gān xiāng chōngStems seven positions apart with the same polarity clash: 甲庚, 乙辛, 丙壬, 丁癸.
- 六Six Combinations — 六合 liù héThe six branch combinations are 子丑, 寅亥, 卯戌, 辰酉, 巳申 and 午未.
- 三Three Harmony — 三合 sān héThree-harmony frames join three branches four positions apart into one element: 申子辰 water, 亥卯未 wood, 寅午戌 fire, 巳酉丑 metal.
- 三Directional Combination — 三会 sān huìDirectional (seasonal) combinations gather the three branches of one season: 寅卯辰 east wood, 巳午未 south fire, 申酉戌 west metal, 亥子丑 north water.
- 地Branch Clash — 地支六冲 liù chōngBranches opposite each other clash: 子午, 丑未, 寅申, 卯酉, 辰戌, 巳亥.
- 六Branch Harm — 六害 liù hàiThe six harms are 子未, 丑午, 寅巳, 卯辰, 申亥 and 酉戌.
- 三Branch Punishment — 三刑 sān xíngPunishments are 寅巳申 (ungrateful), 丑戌未 (bullying), 子卯 (uncivil) and the self-punishments 辰辰, 午午, 酉酉, 亥亥.
- 空Void Emptiness — 空亡 kōng wángEach ten-day "decade" (旬) of the sixty cycle leaves two branches without a stem; these are void (空亡) for pillars in that decade.
- 大Luck Pillars — 大运 dà yùnLuck pillars are ten-year pillars that step forward or backward through the sixty cycle from the month pillar.
- 流Annual Pillar — 流年 liú niánThe annual pillar is the stem-branch of a calendar year, changing at 立春.
- 起Starting Age — 起运 qǐ yùnThe starting age is when the first luck pillar begins.
- 大Luck Direction — 大运顺逆 shùn nìLuck pillars run forward for yang-year males and yin-year females, and backward for yin-year males and yang-year females.
- 二Solar Terms — 二十四节气 jié qìThe twenty-four solar terms divide the sun's path into 15° steps.
- 立Start of Spring (Li Chun) — 立春 lì chūn立春, when the sun reaches 315° ecliptic longitude around 4 February, begins the BaZi year and the 寅 month.
- 春Chinese New Year vs Li Chun — 春节与立春 chūn jiéChinese New Year follows the lunar calendar and falls between 21 January and 20 February; 立春 follows the sun.
- 真True Solar Time — 真太阳时 zhēn tài yáng shíTrue solar time is clock time corrected for longitude (four minutes per degree from the zone meridian) and the equation of time (up to about ±16 minutes ov
- 子Zi Hour (Rat Hour) — 子时 zǐ shíThe 子 hour runs 23:00–01:00.
- 卦Hexagram — 卦 guàA hexagram is a figure of six lines, each solid (yang) or broken (yin), built from two trigrams.
- 八Trigram — 八卦 bā guàThe eight trigrams — 乾兑离震巽坎艮坤 — are three-line figures associated with heaven, lake, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain and earth, and with five-element
- 动Changing Line — 动爻 dòng yáoA changing (moving) line is an old yang or old yin that flips to its opposite, producing the changed hexagram.
- 纳Na Jia — 纳甲 nà jiǎNa Jia assigns stems and branches to each line of a hexagram according to its trigrams.
- 体Body and Use — 体用 tǐ yòngIn Mei Hua Yi Shu the trigram without the moving line is the body (体, the asker) and the trigram with it is the use (用, the matter).
- 九Nine Palaces — 九宫 jiǔ gōngThe nine palaces are the Luo Shu magic-square grid used in Qi Men Dun Jia: eight directions plus the centre.